Why Dublin is Right

You’ve probably heard via the news that Jolyon Maugham QC is bringing a case through the Irish courts in Dublin to the European Court of Justice in order to establish whether Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is reversible, i.e. whether it is possible in principle for the UK government to “untrigger” BrExit for whatever reason.

There’s be an astonishingly level of ill-informed criticism and downright personal abuse flying about as a result of his decision to crowdsource this case, but I think it’s a very good thing. I just wonder why our own government seems to be so unconcerned about the legality of its actions…

You can read,here, why I believe it is the right thing for both the UK and Ireland that there be legal certainty on whether Article 50, once triggered, can be reversed. I will not repeat my reasoning but I do invite you to re-read that piece.

The greatest possible compliment has been paid to that argument by those who would leave whatever the cost to our nation: they haverefused to engage with it. Instead they have attacked me. Occasional distraction though they are, I do not mind the personal attacks. They reveal more about my opponents’ paucity of thinking on the substance of my argument than they do about me. Everything I have put in the public domain aboutmyself(and mytax practice)is true.

Alongside these personal attacks, there has been some considered focus on whether this is the right step to take or at this…

6 Responses to “Why Dublin is Right”

Of course the case in the Irish courts is right: citizens of the United Kingdom, and the rest of the peoples of the European Union, need clarification of the process of the UK quitting the EU. It is astonishing that there is such lack of transparency and understanding of the procedure. The UK Government seems to be making up things as it goes along in response to tabloid newspaper headlines.

My view is that quitting the European Union risks ruining the UK’s standing in the world, crashing the British economy, derailing the Northern Ireland peace process, and ending the unity of the state itself. A British state was first created by the union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland in 1707. That state may well be wrecked by the act of quitting the European Union. Minimally we need to understand the procedure itself.

Surely you are understating it? That great speaker of truth David Cameron said that it risks triggering a third world war, and I might also have expected it to accelerate the transformation of the Sun into an earth-enveloping Red Giant, the Heat Death of the universe and/or the Big Crunch.

One prophecy is certain: If Britain remains in then Remainers will attribute everything good that happens to it, while if Britain exits, Remainers will attribute everything bad that happens to the decision and Brexiteers will attribute everything good to it; and almost all such arguments will be speculative.

If Putin tries that then he wold be testing the NATO doctrine and mainly the commitment of its superpower, the USA, which has had an irresolute foreign policy under Obama. Brexit does not affect NATO, of course.